Forbidden Magic
by BioChick
Summary: At the beginning of Harry's fourth year, a trio of visitors bust in and change the course of the entire year. And Harry thought that this was the year that things would be normal... he should have known better.


**A/N: **_This is a trial run of an idea I had earlier this year. A somewhat crossover of Fullmetal Alchemist… just borrowing a few things and molding them to my own creation. No plagiarism intended. Let me know what you think- should I continue? I have a few more surprises that I didn't disclose in this preview… __ Enjoy!_

It was a good start to the first term of Harry's fourth year. His friends were all back with him, Malfoy hadn't started any major fights since the Quidditch World Cup, and so far it looked like it was going to be a pretty normal year. Glancing over at the new first-years waiting to be sorted, Harry smiled in remembrance of his first year. It seemed like such a long time ago, when he was still in the Dursley's house, under the stairs. When he had no idea that he was a wizard and the target of the most powerful dark wizard ever.

Harry sighed. At least Voldemort isn't really back, he is still just a parasite leeching off of other humans. Ron elbowed him in the side and said, "Hey mate, you all right?"

He looked over and saw Ron and Hermione staring at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just remembering our first year, being sorted and whatnot. When I met you guys." Harry smiled and winked at Hermione, "When I almost got killed by a mountain troll."

Ron laughed and Hermione blushed. "Are you ever going to let that go?" Both boys shook their heads. She rolled her eyes and shushed them. "The sorting is about to start!"

Harry looked back to the hat, eager to see the new Gryffindors. Soon after the sorting began, Harry was bored. He met some of the new first years, had some misguided hero worship that was dealt with accordingly, and was now just waiting to retire to his room. Scratching his forehead for the fifth time, he wondered if there was something wrong.

Hermione looked over and asked him again if his forehead was all right. "You would be allowed to see Madame Pomfrey if you really had to. The professors would understand."

Shaking his head, Harry said, "No really, I'm fine. It just itches." Harry blinked. The Great Hall was going black. Looking around, Harry didn't see anyone else notice the change. The black seeped through the edges of his vision and when Harry whipped his head around to see where it was coming from, it fled away from direct view. "What…?" was all he got out before the black shot forward and consumed his vision.

When Harry opened his eyes, there were a group of people surrounding him. Hermione and Ron were on his right side while Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey were on his left. Harry blinked. "What happened?"

"You fainted dear. Are you feeling ok?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

Harry sat up slowly and scratched his forehead. "Yeah, I feel fine. How long was I out?"

Hermione spoke up then. "You were only out about five minutes Harry. I told you to go talk to her." Directing her words at Madame Pomfrey, she added, "His forehead has been itching all night. Right where his scar is."

Standing up and returning to his seat, Harry said, "Nonsense, I'm fine. Must not have eaten enough on the train."

The professors looked at him strangely. "If you're sure…"

Harry nodded. "I am."

Dumbledore clapped his hands. "All right then. Shall we proceed with the sorting?" He made his way back to his seat, ushering students to their respective tables. The sorting was just about to continue when Harry sat up rigidly.

Looking over towards the window, a cold sweat broke out over his body. "Everyone, get under the tables and away from the windows!" he shouted. Standing up, Harry yelled again, "Under the tables! Now!"

By now the low rumble could be heard by everyone else and they hesitated only one more moment before diving under the heavy wood tables. Grabbing Ron and Hermione by the hand, Harry pushed them under the table before joining them himself, covering his head with his arms like he used to do during tornado drills in his muggle school.

Mere seconds later, the Great Hall exploded. Students screamed as the windows shattered and glass flew everywhere when the shockwave flew through the castle. The majority of the glass missed the students as Dumbledore was casting a protective spell from his spot under the head table. In an instant, the hall was quiet again, with only a few more panes of glass hitting the ground.

Students were peering around, still under the table. Harry jumped out and began running to the broken window, jumping on the tables in order to get there faster. He reached the closest window and was looking out frantically. "Darn it!" he yelled, slapping his hand against the stone wall, not sure why he was so frustrated.

"Harry." Dumbledore strode over to the boy. "What was that?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not quite sure, but it felt familiar. Like somehow a part of me. That's how I knew it was coming before it hit. I'm worried that it might be Voldemort, because it was a super powerful blast of magic residue."

They had learned about magic residue right before the end of the third year. Basically, every time a spell is cast, it leaves behind a mark. Like a fingerprint, these marks can be traced to determine which spell was cast and who cast it. It was useful in helping the Ministry find criminals and murderers, though it can't always be used when dealing with minor spells and it had a time limit. When a very powerful spell is cast, the residue is projected forward into a shockwave, like the one that had just passed through the Great Hall. The more powerful the spell, the more powerful the shockwave and the longer it lasted.

Based on the shockwave that just poured through the Great Hall, the spell must have been equivalent to fifty Voldemort-level wizards casting a killing curse at full power.

Dumbledore nodded. Turning to the students, he magnified his voice and said, "Prefects, lead your house to your respective towers. Do not make any stops. Go straight to your dormitories and your heads of house will be in contact to let you know what has happened."

Turning to Harry, he said, "You come with me."

Before the Prefects could organize their houses, a figure was blown through the now open window. The body skidded through the broken glass, cursing loudly before hitting the opposite wall in between the House tables and the head table. The professors instantly were on their feet, pointing their wands at the body and the Prefects formed a line in front of the students. Standard intruder procedure if there was ever a breech during a meal in the Great Hall. Not that anyone thought that an intruder could get through the wards, but it never hurts to be prepared.

The figure stood up and dusted itself off. Turning around, the person scowled at the wizards and witches in the room. "Stop pointing your bloody wands at me and point them at him, bloody idiots!" Everyone froze. The man standing before them was tall and lean, with black shaggy hair and startling green eyes. A dark green trench coat covered his form, bringing out the green in his eyes. Even without the glasses, the bright red lightning bolt scar on his forehead was enough to identify him, Harry Potter. The entire student population looked from the intruder, to the Harry standing next to Dumbledore, then back to the intruder. Harry was staring wide-eyed at the man, the feeling of déjà-vu very strong.

McGonagall was the first to break the silence. "Mr. Potter?"

The man looked over at her. A smile softened his features. "Ah, McGonagall, what a pleasure to see you again. It's been too long. However, I have some business to take care of before pleasantries can be properly exchanged."

With that shocking statement, Harry dashed across the Great Hall and tackled another figure climbing through the open window. Grabbing the figure's shoulder, Harry pulled back his right arm and forced his glove-covered fist forward. With an audible crack, the figure's head snapped back and blood spurted from its nose. Another punch from Harry flung the figure across the floor of broken glass. The figure rose, another man, tall and lanky, with platinum blonde hair. "Bloody hell. Potter, I'm going to kill you for that."

Harry chuckled. "Just add it on to the list Malfoy. Here, let me give you another reason." Harry sprung forward and threw a right fist at Malfoy's face. The Slytherin blocked and ducked down into a low kick. Harry jumped and dodged it. The two men were now engaged in a full fight, leaving the rest of the hall to watch with growing anxiety as the fight migrated closer to the tables.

Dumbledore placed a shield between the fight and the students, and then attempted to stop the fight. However, any spell he sent towards them just bounced off the duelers. He drew back and watched warily as the punches flew. He was wondering why their fight was so odd, when suddenly he realized. They weren't dueling. They were brawling, fist to fist, no magic involved.

Harry's right arm flew forward again into Malfoy's shoulder and seemingly shattered it. Malfoy hit the ground and did not get up. Harry was settled into his fighting stance, watching warily. After making certain that Malfoy was down for good, Harry relaxed and stood straight. The students all visibly sighed, slumping slightly from the release of adrenaline. Dumbledore once again attempted to restore order to the Hall when a third figure leapt through the window. Harry at once turned and attacked, spinning low and kicking out his foot and causing the figure to fall on its back.

"Bloody hell mate, why are you throwing me around like a rag doll? First outside and now this. I shouldn't even have followed you." the man stood up and brushed off the shards of glass.

Harry, for his part, looked sheepish. Rubbing the back of his head, he responded, "Well you surprised me. I was expecting Voldemort or someone, not you. And it was dark outside."

"And you couldn't tell that it was me? I have freakish red hair that glows in the dark Harry!"

Laughing, Harry walked forward. "Sorry Ron. I wasn't expecting that much of a shockwave either. Besides, Malfoy made it so why wouldn't Voldemort be able to sneak up on me?" Patting Ron on the shoulder, he leaned forward and started whispering into his ear. Ron was surprisingly silent and thoughtful. He stopped Harry a few times to put in his input. They walked over and bound Malfoy, Ron used a spell to summon rope and Harry used it to tie his hands together behind his back.

"Enough!" Dumbledore walked forward, the first to break the frozen silence of the stunned audience. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Harry and Ron looked up surprised. "Really, you don't recognize us? I mean yeah, we're a little older, but people say we haven't changed that much!" Harry replied. He stood up and looked over at the Gryffindor table, "Look mate, there you are! Looks like fourth year."

Ron laughed and pointed at the window, "And there you are mate. Still have your glasses and everything!" The boys laughed and were looking around the hall. They suddenly sobered as they looked straight at Hermione. "And there she is." Hermione squirmed at her seat, trying to look anywhere but at the new arrivals. The intensity of their stare had unnerved her.

Harry put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "That's one reason why we're here mate. Just remember the mission."

"Yeah, the one you wouldn't let me join you on!" Ron reached over and slapped Harry upside the head.

Once again, Dumbledore had to make himself known to the two visitors. He was really starting to get annoyed that no one was listening to his authority. Seriously, he was the Headmaster! A little respect was all he asked for. "Well, let's adjourn to my office shall we? And we'll bring young Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Malfoy as well." He turned again to the students and directed them to their towers. Ron made his was up to the front at Dumbledore's order, leaving Hermione to be ushered with the rest of the Gryffindor's to the tower. Harry walked over to the younger Ron and was silent, watching his older self with curiosity. Snape dragged a resisting Malfoy up to the group and eyed the newcomers warily.

The fourth year students followed the older versions of themselves, who seemed to be discussing something quietly with Malfoy unconscious over Harry's shoulder. They made it to Dumbledore's office, and were seated. Older Harry threw older Malfoy onto the floor and used him as a footstool. The fourth year Malfoy was shaking with rage. "Potter! How dare you treat my body that way! I demand that you remove your feet!"

The older Harry paused his talk with Ron and stoically turned his head to regard Malfoy. "Ah Malfoy, how about I give you some advice from someone who is older and wiser." Leaning forward, he whispered, "Shut up before I remove your limbs from your body and force you to drag your mangled body to classes with the stumps. Okay?" He smiled with absolutely no warmth reaching his eyes. Instead, they were filled with a cold promise that made Malfoy shrink back and miraculously shut his mouth.

Shaking his head, Dumbledore called their attention. "So, what are you doing here?"

Harry nudged Ron who cast a silencing bubble over Malfoy. "I'm sorry sir," Harry began in response to Dumbledore's questioning glance. "We obviously do not trust Malfoy in our time or in this one, so we would rather he not heard the details about why we are here."

Sighing, Harry wiped a hand across his face. "Well, I guess the beginning would be the best place to start. We are from about ten years in the future. In the future, well, it's not good. I'd rather not divulge all of the reasons why the future is bad, but I can tell you that the war against Voldemort is raging. I came up with a plan to be sent back to the past to stop certain events from happening which would allow the outcome of the war to be tipped more to our favor."

Glaring at Ron who studiously avoided his gaze, Harry continued. "I only intended myself to come through the wormhole, but Malfoy of the future attacked while I was on my way through and managed to piggy-back to this time." 

Ron piped up at this point. "And I jumped through because honestly they didn't need me out there, especially if the plan was successful. When I saw Malfoy I went through to help Harry out."

The fourth year Harry and Ron were sitting, feeling like spectators in a weird sci-fy movie, though Ron didn't really place that description on it, seeing as he has never seen a muggle sci-fy movie.

Dumbledore nodded. "So, now that you are here, what are you planning on doing? Especially since you have two uninvited guests on your trip."

Harry sat back. "To be honest, I haven't really had the chance to think about it. I just got here and then Malfoy attacked me. Since we do have the memories of what is supposed to happen this year, I'm not sure how much to reveal. I want to change the future, but not alter it so much that when we go back it is a completely alternate reality."

Nodding, Dumbledore shuffled some parchment on his desk. "Well, I have sent some house elves to prepare some rooms for the three of you. I assume you will be able to take care of Mr. Malfoy?"

Harry thanked him. "I really would like to keep him under surveillance, hopefully under lock and key for the duration of our stay. There is no telling what could happen if he got loose and went to the Death Eaters, because as you might have been able to guess, Malfoy is not on our side. If he somehow got to Voldemort then he could succeed in our plan before we could."

"Agreed. I can assign some Aurors to come over to guard him while he is here."

"I don't think that will work." Harry glanced down at the form still acting as a makeshift footrest. "Malfoy, as much as I hate to admit it, has become extremely powerful over these ten years. Of course he is still no match for me or Ron, but I fear that the Aurors will not be able to keep him contained. Is there a potion Snape could brew that keeps Malfoy in a state of unconsciousness while he is here?"

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I will discuss the possibility with the Professor to see what he can do. Until then..?"

"Until then Ron and I will take shifts watching him in the rooms we are staying in." Ron nodded and nudged Malfoy with his left foot.

"Very well. What will you do while you are not guarding Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore had briefly spoken to a house elf about the rooms and sent a second one to retrieve Professor Snape.

Harry nodded. "Research. Gathering the necessary people and information in order to change the future. I will probably spend most of my time in the library, and possibly participate in the TriWizard Tournament if you will allow it."

Dumbledore blinked. "Do you know the outcome of the tournament?"

Harry and Ron lowered their gazes. "We know what happened the first time." Ron looked over at Harry. Continuing, he said, "It was not the desired outcome, but hopefully since we were able to come at this particular time we can change the results."

The door to the office opened and Snape walked in, ignoring the Gryffindors in favor of addressing the Headmaster. "Sir? You called for me?"

"Yes. I was wondering if there was a potion you could brew that would keep a person in a state of unconsciousness for a long period of time."

Confused, Snape thought for a moment. "The only thing I can think of is a potion that will keep a person in a coma-like state for one month. It is not recommended as the potion can cause the vital processes of a body to stop working. The potion can be administered as many times as you would like, though it is more effective if you allow the person to be 'awake' for about one hour between dosages."

"Very well. I would like you to brew about ten doses. When you have finished, bring them to me."

Snape knew he had been dismissed and left the office. "Does that sound satisfactory to you gentlemen?" Dumbledore asked Harry and Ron. They held a mini conference before turning again to the Headmaster.

"We would like to have the ingredients and procedure for brewing the potion as well as a chance to look over the potion before we give it to Malfoy. As much as we would love for this thorn in our side to be removed from our lives, it is not in our best interest right now to allow him to die. Precisely why I didn't kill him in the Great Hall, though I was tempted." Harry noticed that Malfoy was beginning to stir and sent his right foot into the back of Malfoy's neck. The disturbance stopped and Harry settled again.

Dumbledore shifted, uncomfortable with this ruthless Harry. Which led to his next point of conversation. "How are we to keep you apart from your younger selves? I am sure you both would get tired of being called 'Harry' and have it be for the wrong person half of the time."

Harry smiled. "Yes, that would be quite grating." Thinking a moment, Harry looked over at his younger self for the first time all evening. "How about you call us by our last names and them by their first names. It won't get rid of the confusion entirely, but it will help."

Nodding, Dumbledore addressed the young Harry and Ron. "Is this satisfactory for you two? Do you have anything to add?"

Harry and Ron were sitting in silence, awestruck at the conversation unfolding in front of them. Harry spoke up, "What events are you going to change? Will it affect us greatly? And what will you do once you have completed what you came to do?"

Potter shrugged. "We can't really tell you what we have to change, just by us being here some events are going to be altered. The major events are definitely the outcome of the TriWizard tournament, though Murphy's Law will make sure something bad still happens. And we are going to try to prevent the inordinate amount of deaths that occurred. I am not sure how much it will affect you; hopefully it will make you suffer less."

At this point, Weasley stepped in. "I'm not sure we can go back to the point we left in our time. Since we're changing the future, the possibility that Hogwarts could have built a new hut in that exact spot could leave us spliced into the wood… and that is not a fun experience."

"On that note, maybe we should send the boys back to their rooms. Weasley, would you kindly remove the bubble from around Mr. Malfoy." The young men sheepishly looked over at the fuming Slytherin; they had forgotten about him.

Weasley waved his wand and Draco stood up. "This is unacceptable. My father will hear about this!" He turned on his heel and stomped out the door.

Potter laughed. "Still a child. As if his father could scare us anymore!" Weasley and Potter chuckled at the inside joke before turning their attention back to the headmaster.

A pop sounded in the room and a house elf spoke quietly to the headmaster. "Well lads, it seems that your room has been prepared. Shall we adjourn this meeting until a later time? It is quite late and I think Mr. Weasley- Ron is about to fall asleep where he sits."

With a smile, the group turned to look at Ron, who was indeed beginning to slouch and his eyes were drooping. Potter chuckled and agreed. "Let's go Weasley, time to get ferret situated."

Grinning, Weasley checked the ropes again and Potter lifted the dead weight over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Off we go then!"

The young men followed the house elf to their new rooms as Dumbledore sent the young students to their dormitory. Leaning back in his chair, the headmaster looked over to Fawkes and sighed. "This is going to be an interesting year my darling. Interesting indeed."

Fawkes just trilled, flapping her wings and soaring out the window. Her nightly patrol of the castle grounds was pervaded by flashes of the two newcomers walking to their rooms and an ominous black magic residue where the two were supposedly dumped.


End file.
